Margarine package



Nov. 11, 1952 B. T. HENSGEN MARGARINE PACKAGE Filed March 3. 1948INVENTOR. Jerzza ta .7:

AT OENEY 4 UNITED, STATES PATENT. OFFICE-I "MA GARINE PACKAGE Bernard T.Hensgen Harvey, Ill., assignor to V oflllinois Swift.& Company, Chicago,111., a corporation? 1 'App licatioliMarch 3, 1848, Serial No. 1 2,7 l1i i z. i 1, This invention relates toia package for margarinefan'damore; particularly} toan improved package for distributingmargarine togetherwith" a coloring ingredient therefor, and inwhich'pack agethe margarine; may subsequently 'be mixed with thecoloring by kneading action.

It is an object of'thisinvention to=provide an improved. package formargarine.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved packageuseful for distributing and then coloring margarine. 5

Another .object of this invention is to provide an improved package forholding a coloring in"-' gredient spaced fromlmarga'rine during shipmentof the margarine to'thecconsumer; 7

Another" object of this invention is toprovide an' improved package forholding margarine and a coloring ingredient separated during normaldistribution and in which the margarine and coloring ingredient'maysubsequently be mixed by the housewife. u

Another object of this invention is to provide a new method for forminga margarine package.

Anojtherzobject of this invention is to provide an improved method'foi'forming a margarine coloringpackage. I

Otherobjects will appear'more fully from the specification below;

In the drawings,

Figurel isa top plan view of a completed package. partly broken away!and J Figure 2 is :a side elevat'on of the package shown in. Figure l. Yr I Various expedients have been proposed for facilitating thecoloring'of margarine by the consumer, and one such means takes the formof a flexible, sealed bag for containing the margarine and coloringmatter. The package is sealed substantially airtight at themanufacturing plant, and the structure is such that the coloringmaterial is held spaced from the margarine in the package'during normaldistribution. When the consumer ultimately acquires the'margarine andwishes to color it, the coloring material is freed within the package toplace it in contact with the margarine, and the coloring and margarineare :mixedbykneading the two-together through thewall of theflexible-bag.

The present invention provides an improvement on this type of margarinecoloring means, and-in its preferred form it is made as shown in thedrawings. As will be seen by referring to Figure 1, a print III ofmargarine is placed between two sheets ll and I2 of a material which maybe sealed together at their overlaid edge sealed," and the, materialvshould have properties which make it relatively impervious to air sothat when the edges are sealed together around the perimeter of thesheets, a substantiallyairtight ackage can be formed. I

As shown, at the end of the relatively elongated package a wider sealedportion is provided in which"a small area of theoverlaid sheets is leftunsealed to provide a pocket l3, which is entirely closed except foritslcommunication with the enclosure containing the margarine. Thepocket 13 communicates with the margarine enclosure through a restrictedpassageway M.

The pocket I3 is designed to hold a small batch of a dye or coloringingredient in such a manner that the coloring material is held spacedfrom the margarine during shipment. This prevents the margarine frombecoming colored before the consumer receives the package. Preferablythe coloring material is disposed in the pocket in a liquid form whereinthe liquid is confined within a gelatin bean; Thus, when the consumer.dee sires to color the margarine, the bean may be squeezed'to burst'itand the coloring matter issued through the passage |4 into theenclosure. When other forms of coloring material are disposed in thepocket l3, the passage 14 must be of such size that the coloring can beeasily worked from the pocketinto the enclosure.

When the consumer wishes touse the package to color margarine, the.coloring material is worked through the passage 14 to be broughtincontact with the;margarine, and the margarine and the coloring dyearethen squished around inside of the package until the margarine ac--margarine until it becomes firm as when it isplaced under refrigeration.

The above-described package may be formed by first placing a print ofmargarine on a relatively wide sheet of the flexible material. Themargarine should be approximately centered in the sheet and then asecond sheet of the same type of material is brought into overlayingrelationship. As the sheets are selected to be somewhat wider than theprint of margarine, the edges of the sheet can be brought into contactin overlapping relationship and sealed together while they are heldspaced from the block of margarine. The scaling is completed throughoutmost of the periphery of the sheets, with the exception of only a smallspace which is left free so that air can be expressed from within theconfines of the package. After the sheets have been sealed together,they are then folded against the body of margarine disposed within theenclosure, and the air trapped between the sheets and the margarine issqueezed out. Thereafter the peripheral sealing operation is completedto close the remaining unsealed space whereby anairtight enclosure isprovided for the margarine product.

The color ingredient is placed between the sheets of flexible materialadjacent the periphery, and thus, simultaneously with completion of thesealing operation, the pocket [3 canbe formed around. the coloringmaterial. In this manner the pocket can be made of restricted size, andwhere a gelatin bean for containing a liquid coloring. ingredient isused, the pocket can be made almost form-fitting.

While the preparation of the package has been described above as appliedto the formation of a package. adapted to contain coloring material inaddition to the margarine, it is also within the contemplation ofthepresent invention to form the package in the manner aforesaid, omittingthe step of placing a color capsule or the like within the open arealeft in the peripheral seal. In other words, the sealing operationfollowing the expression of air from the package by pressing the sheetsagainst the surface of the margarine print would in such instancecompletely close the remaining unsealed space.

In the preferred form of this invention, the liquid form of coloringingredient is used because it tends to mix more readily withthemargarine. The frangible or gelatin bean containing the coloring isneatly fitted into the pocket as above described, and thereafter, whenthe bean is broken to release the color, the bean is retained in thepocket after it is broken by means of the restricted passageway I4 whichwill only let the coloring material flow into the margarine enclosure.

When an elongated print of margarine is to be packaged, it may bedesirable to form the pocket along a side seam instead of at the end asis shown in the drawings. When an elongated margarine print is beingcolored, theintroduction of the dye into the mass of margarine at apoint centrally of the longest dimension facilitates the distribution ofthe coloring through the margarine. It has been found, however, thatwhen one-becomes experienced in squishing. the margarine around in sucha flexible bag, the coloring can be introduced into the package at anypoint and quite rapid coloring, can be accomplished.

While the above-described invention. covers the preferred form of thisinvention, it is to be understood that .many modifications thereof mayoccur to those skilled in the art which will fall within the scope ofthe followingclaims.

I claim:

1. An elongated and generally rectangularly shaped package comprising aflexible walled enclosure for margarine in which the margarine may bemixed with a coloring ingredient by manipulating the package; thepackage being formed by sealing together two overlayed sheets offlexible air-impermeable material with the margarine disposed betweenthe sheets by pressing the sheets against the margarine to express theair from within the package and fixedly adhering the edge portions ofthe sheets together in overlaying relationship and in an airtight mannerto form a peripheral seal with a small area of said edgeportions inoverlaying relationship left unsealed to form a pocket and a restrictedpassage; said pocket having communication with the interior of saidpackage on one side through said restricted passage and surrounded bysaid peripheral seal on the othersides; and a frangible capsule forconfining the coloring ingredient in said pocket so that the coloringmay be held out of contact with the margarine in the enclosure until itis desired to color'it, whereupon, the coloring ingredient may be freedfrom said capsule and issued from the pocket through said passage andinto the interior of the packageto be mixed with the margarine whileretaining the capsule in said pocket.

2. A method for forming a color-containing package in which to colormargarine, comprising: depositing a print of margarine on a relativelywide sheet of flexible material; bringing a second sheet of a similarmaterial into overlaying relationship with said first sheet; forming aperipheral seal around the edges of said sheets by pressing the sheetsagainst the print of margarine to express air trapped within said sheetsand sealing said sheets except for a small area which forms a pocket anda restricted passage; said pocket being in communication with theinterior of the package on one side through said restricted passage andsurrounded by said peripheral seal on the other sides; and confining'acoloringcontaining capsule in said pocket whereby the coloring is heldspaced from the margarine until the margarine is to be colored,whereupon, the coloring ingredient may be freed from'said capsule andissued from the pocket through said ;..passage into the interior of saidpackage wherein it may be mixed with the margarine by man'- ipulation ofsaid package without opening said package and while retaining thecapsule in the pocket.

BERNARD T. HENSGEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS- Number Name Date 1,474,248 English Nov; 13, 19232,347,640 Peters May 2, 1944' 2,372,406 Treneer Mar. 27, 1945 2,457,924Salfisberg Jan. 4, 1949 2,469,204 Peters May-3, 1949 2,469,521 RohdinMay10, 1949

1. AN ELONGATED AND GENERALLY RECTANGULARLY SHAPED PACKAGE COMPRISING AFLEXIBLE WALLED ENCLOSURE FOR MARGARINE IN WHICH THE MARGARINE MAY BEMIXED WITH A COLORING INGREDIENT BY MANIPULATING THE PACKAGE; THEPACKAGE BEING FORMED BY SEALING TOGETHER TWO OVERLAYED SHEETS OFFLEXIBLE AIR-IMPERMEABLE MATERIAL WITH THE MARGARINE DISPOSED BETWEENTHE SHEETS BY PRESSING THE SHEETS AGAINST THE MARGARINE TO EXPRESS THEAIR FROM WITHIN THE PACKAGE AND FIXEDLY ADHERING THE EDGE PORTIONS OFTHE SHEETS TOGETHER IN OVERLAYING RELATIONSHIP AND IN AN AIRTIGHT MANNERTO FORM A PERIPHERAL SEAL WITH A SMALL AREA OF SAID EDGE PORTIONS INOVERLAYING RELATIONSHIP LEFT UNSEALED TO FORM A POCKET AND A RESTRICTEDPASSAGE; SAID POCKET HAVING COMMUNICATION WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAIDPACKAGE ON ONE SIDE THROUGH SAID RESTRICTED PASSAGE AND SURROUNDED BYSAID PERIPHERAL SEAL ON THE OTHER SIDES; AND A FRANGIBLE CAPSULE FORCONFINING THE COLORING INGREDIENT IN SAID POCKET SO THAT THE COLORINGMAY BE HELD OUT OF CONTACT WITH THE MARGARINE IN THE ENCLOSURE UNTIL ITIS DESIRED TO COLOR IT, WHEREUPON, THE COLORING INGREDIENT MAY BE FREEDFROM SAID CAPSULE AND ISSUED FROM THE POCKET THROUGH SAID PASSAGE ANDINTO THE INTERIOR OF THE PACKAGE TO BE MIXED WITH THE MARGARINE WHILERETAINING THE CAPSULE IN SAID POCKET.